“Remember this, girls,” rings the intro of Doja Cat’s latest new track. “None of you can be first, but all of you can be next.”
The intro — lifted from professional wrestler Ric Flair — heralds the beginning of “Balut,” the final song on the star’s upcoming new album Scarlet and its most recent single. The track features production contributions from Yeti Beats, Roget Chahyed and Kurtis McKenzie. The latter two creatives, alongside Doja and Y2K, also have writing credits on the laidback rap track.
“Balut” marks the fourth single from Scarlet. Doja first introduced the world of her fourth studio album with “Attention,” a boom-bap-leaning hip-hop track that debuted and peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard Hot 100. A Dionne Warwick-sampling pop-rap track entitled “Paint the Town Red” soon followed as the album’s first radio single, reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 this week (chart dated Sept. 16, 2023). On Sept. 1, Doja then unleashed “Demons,” a raucous punk-rap track that boasted a chilling horror-themed music video starring Emmy-nominated Yellowjackets actress Christina Ricci.
The release of “Balut” comes the same week as Doja’s star-turn 2023 MTV Video Music Awards performance, in which she delivered a show-stopping medley of “Attention,” “Paint the Town Red” and “Demons.” At Tuesday night’s ceremony (Sept. 12), “Attention” won the Moonperson for best art direction.
Scarlet is slated for a Sept. 22 release with an accompanying headlining arena tour to follow. The Scarlet Tour kicks off on Oct. 31 at Chase Center in San Francisco, CA, with special guests Ice Spice and Doechii.
Stream “Balut” now: